6,000 Sign Petition On Foster Child

6,000 Sign Petition On Child

WETHERSFIELD — More than 6,000 residents have signed a petition asking that Cindy and Jerry LaFlamme regain custody of their would-be adopted daughter, Megan Marie.

The petition drive ended Sunday, four days before the state Supreme Court is scheduled to hear an appeal on behalf of the New Britain couple. The LaFlammes cared for the baby, now 15 months old, as foster parents starting last October.

The LaFlammes were ordered by a Superior Court judge in June to return the child to her natural mother, 19-year-old Gina Pellegrino of Milford, who had abandoned the girl shortly after birth.

"We're asking the Supreme Court to take public opinion into account on this," said Barbara Meyers of Newington, one of about 15 people who have collected signatures since June. "What happened was a mistake, and it should never happen again."

"This is a decision that should be made by child welfare experts, not lawyers," Meyers said.

Sitting at a table in front of the Super Shop & Stop on the Berlin Turnpike, Meyers collected signatures Sunday and handed out directions to the Supreme Court building, where the case will be heard Thursday at 2 p.m.

Meyers, a program associate at the University of Connecticut School of Social Work, said she's not sure to whom the petitions will be presented.

Meyers and Marina Salone of Wethersfield solicited support for more than four hours Sunday as they sat in front of a large pink sign that read, "Justice for Megan Marie."

"When I first heard about this, I was hysterical, like it happened to me," said Marina Salone, a mother.

State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who filed the appeal, said Sunday that the petitions probably won't affect the outcome of the case. The proceedings will be open to the public, Blumenthal said, although Pellegrino's lawyer had asked that they be closed.

The LaFlammes' plight drew national attention this summer, when New Haven Superior Court Judge John T. Downey gave Pellegrino custody of the infant and sparked emotional support for the LaFlammes all over the state.

In his appeal, Blumenthal is contending that Downey violated the four-month time limit on reopening civil court cases when he gave custody to Pellegrino.

A month after the baby was born, Downey granted a request by the state Department of Child and Youth Services to strip Pellegrino of her parental rights. In October 1991, he placed the baby, then about 3 months old, with the LaFlammes.

But in March, Downey reopened the matter on Pellegrino's request, and granted her custody of the baby in June. Pellegrino renamed the baby Angelica.

"Our contention is the court erred because the four-month limit had run out," Blumenthal said.

Downey excused Pellegrino's tardiness in filing for a re-hearing of the matter because she had been misinformed about legal procedures, he said in his ruling.

Pellegrino began trying to regain custody of her baby about five months after she was born.

Blumenthal said he did not know when the Supreme Court will render a decision.

The state Supreme Court could be the LaFlammes' last hope for regaining the child. If the appeal is denied, it could be brought to the U.S. Supreme Court, but only if the denial is based on some constitutional issue, Blumenthal said.

Meyers and Salone said they collected more than 400 signatures on the petition Sunday alone, with almost no one declining to sign. Neither woman knows the LaFlammes, and neither has met them. The LaFlammes could not be reached for comment Sunday.

Tammy McDonald, a mother of two from Hartford, said she signed because she thinks the LaFlammes will be better parents than Pellegrino.